THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996 TAG: 9606290400
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 61 lines
Time and time again, Javon Benson used a little legwork to retrieve his boomerang during the endurance competition at the Virginia State Games Friday.
The 12-year-old from Norfolk's Colonial Boys & Girls Club gripped the three-pronged orange instrument with his right thumb and index finger.
Next, with a flick of his wrist, the boomerang spiraled through the air and then circled back toward him.
``I stand there, go the opposite way of the wind, wait for it to come half-way back and then I run out there and catch it,'' Javon explains as if he were a professional in the sport. But like most of the 35 kids at Redwing Park for the first day of the Virginia State Games, the art of throwing a boomerang is a new experience for Javon.
Virginia Beach resident and 1991 world champion John Koehler spends a lot of time showing children how to throw boomerangs. Just last week, he gave demonstrations to 1,000 kids at three different clubs. And for Koehler, the rewards aren't monetary.
``I get no money for the things I do with kids,'' said Koehler, whose company Koehler Studios, Inc. designed the State Games logo.
``And I don't want any.''
What Koehler does want is for boomerang to become a more recognized sport in this country.
``I want kids thinking about boomerang like they think about other sports,'' said Koehler, 38.
Sporting their gray State Games T-shirts with the multi-colored logo, the children, ranging in age from 7 to 15, at Friday's event were divided into groups of seven.
Throughout the day, the kids accumulated points in four boomerang events: accuracy, relay, endurance and trick catching. Most of the children, who were all awarded medals at the end of the four competitions, found the final event the hardest.
``I couldn't catch behind my back or with one hand,'' said 8-year-old Heather Bustanoby from the Virginia Beach Boys & Girls Club.
Devon Gray, on the other hand, was impressed with his performance during the trick catching.
``I caught the hardest three,'' the 10-year-old from the Colonial club said. ``I did the behind the back, on top of the head and the left-handed (catch).''
The trick catching was the only event Gary Broadbent Jr. had trouble with.
The 13-year-old from Canton, Ohio, made only three trick catches but scored 39 points during the endurance throw. His father, Gary Sr., taught him how to throw a boomerang when he was 2-years-old.
``It's a competitive sport and everyone in the sport is really close,'' said Gary, who has traveled to St. Louis, Mo.; Washington, D.C.; Michigan and Montreal, Canada, with his dad for competitions.
Gary, along with his father, will compete in the 1996 National Championships, which begin today at Redwing Park. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER, The Virginian-Pilot
Robert Eckhardt of Virginia Beach reaches for his star-shaped
boomerang Friday on the first day of the boomerang competition at
the Virginia State Games in Redwing Park. by CNB